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Topic: Cold weather and washing (Read 8653 times)

We wash towels when we wash everything else, generally every two weeks or so. It's difficult and expensive to do the laundry here; small, old, crappy machines in a building that often doesn't do a good job of de-icing its sidewalk. I can't afford to take the time and money to do a separate load every few days to a week, as I would if we had an in-home unit.

If we take even longer to do laundry, I will pull out fresh towels at some point. I tend to replace the hand towel weekly.

Two towels changed weekly. Three sets (six towels) are perfect for a load in my washing machine. Washcloths, however, are changed every day, as they usually don't dry very quickly. Also, I have a habit of using the used washcloth to wipe down things in the bathroom.

I do have a heated towel rail though - it cost me all of $20 on special, took 5 minutes to install and it dries towels brilliantly.

I have an old, busted up rotary clothesline which is getting pulled down soon, and I'm in the process of installing a folding external clothesline.

Summer days here where it doesn't rain are great for drying things, but some days in winter the fog never even lifts (I'm up fairly high) so in winter the clothes dryer or the folding laundry rack get a good workout.

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Out on the patio we'd sit,And the humidity we'd breathe,We'd watch the lightning crack over canefieldsLaugh and think, this is Australia.

I'm not sure how to calculate weight as USA washers are sold by cubic foot - my washer previously held 5.0 cu ft before I left the USA. Now I live in Europe and my washer is approximately 1/3 the size of that, and it's considered large in this country. My best friend has a washer that can literally hold three shirts.

I have a heated towel rail in my bathroom. It runs off the central heating, but on a special valve which I think is linked to the hot water, so that it is always on, even when the heating is off. I use huge fluffy towels, hand them over the heated towel rail, and they are dry probably within a couple of hours. We each have bath towels and a smaller one for our hair, and they get washed along with the bathmat once a week.

Now I'm curious about washer sizes! I have a large washer by UK standards, which will take a 9kg (19lb) load. Most washers here take 6 or 7kg/13 or 15lb load. How much would a US washer take?

As someone else mentioned, most washers don't list capacity by weight. I looked mine up since it's from Europe and it's listed at 17.6 lbs. I would say most U.S. washers would be at least double that. People who live in apartments and RVs (caravans) generally have a small one like me (if they have one, many don't.) Some RVs have a combination washer/dryer in one appliance, but I have never seen them elsewhere.

I use a fresh towel most days because I leave the towel on the pillow so the towel is still pretty damp the next night. If I remember I'll use the day before yesterdays towel but I only use face towels once and I go through a lot of dish towels so that what dictates when I'm washing towels.

I live in israel where people shower daily ( and in the summer months probably two- three times a day). ( I only mention this because I remember reading some years ago that that is not the norm worldwide).

DS and I share an apartment and bathroom/shower. We switch out the hand towel about weekly. Bath towel and bedding about weekly - probably more in summer. We hang the towels in our rooms to dry after shower.

My ex husband's family used towels once and then they went to the wash. They thought I was weird for reusing a towel.